Collett leaves us wanting to know more about her protagonists lives, and hoping for a sequel. Judith Cutler

Innocent Lies

Dead of Night kept me hooked. Collett tells a good story, but her strength is the characters.

Reviewing the Evidence

Collett writes superb UK police procedurals. Mariner is a cop’s cop and the kind of detective I would want looking for me if I disappeared. Kudos!

www.netgalley.com

Dead of Night

Collett is a wonderful writer, subtle, clever, strong on atmosphere and character.

Yorkshire PostInnocent Lies

“Convincing and highly readable.”

GuardianDeadly Lies

A gripping plot, a likable yet flawed hero, and plenty of unusual twists make this one an excellent choice for British-procedural fans.

BooklistBlood and Stone

Collett’s sixth series entry demonstrates her aptitude for juggling multiple story lines and for creating memorable characters. Never flagging in this outing, she sustains a high level of intensity covered by a thin sheen of nostalgia.

latest news

Working with new publisherJoffe Books to revise early editions in the series. Look out for Mariner #1 revised edition, out at the end o... READ MORE >

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It started, as most good stories do, with an idea that wouldn't go away. To exorcise it, I wrote it down. The scene led to more scenes, and before I knew it I had the skeleton of a story. It took me a couple of years to flesh it out and a little longer to pluck up the courage to show anyone, but eventually it became The Worm in the Bud; the first outing for Detective Inspector Tom Mariner.

So what was that idea? As a special needs teacher I've worked with children and adults with autism spectrum disorder, many of whom have little or no means of communication. What would happen, I wondered, if the sole witness to a serious crime was a man with ASD who had no way of disclosing what he saw?

Why Birmingham? The obvious answer is that I have now lived here for longer than I have lived anywhere else. But perhaps my conscience played a part too. Like most people who don't know the city, I was mostly disparaging of what I understood to consist entirely of spaghetti junction, the concrete jungle of the Bull Ring and row upon row of tower blocks. I very quickly learned how wrong I was. And what Birmingham has in spades, is everything a crime writer could possibly want.